


Save My Soul

by demon_sloth



Category: GhostWalkers - Christine Feehan, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, I could be doing something better with my time, I should be working right now, M/M, Slash, What is this? I don't even...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-10-03
Updated: 2011-11-07
Packaged: 2017-10-24 06:32:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/260191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demon_sloth/pseuds/demon_sloth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Jeff locked in his own mind, Dr Lily Whitney knows that waking him up is going to take more than her expertise, so she does the only thing she can think of – contacts the person that was hired to train her; Harry Potter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I've been waiting to write this for two years now – hopefully I'll do the idea justice (but I didn't have time to re-read the novel so if there's anything that is wrong, I'm at fault.) Obviously I have a thing for Harry and surfers. There's also not enough GhostWalker fiction out there.

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKRowling. GhostWalkers belong to Christine Feehan**

 **Fandom(s): Harry Potter/GhostWalker**

 **Timeline: Set during Shadow Game**

 **Warning: Slash, swearing, spoilers for Shadow Game**

 **Pairing: Harry/Jeff Hollister**

 **Part: 1/10**

 **Summary: With Jeff locked in his own mind in one of her guest bedrooms, Dr Lily Whitney knows that waking him up is going to take more expertise than she has, so she does the only thing she can think of – contacts the person that was hired by her father to train her when she was a child.**

 **Harry is a man who holds his cards close to his chest and with the mastery of the mind arts that he has, Lily won't be finding out any of his secrets any time soon. But she trusts him and he is the one person in the world that she knows is on her side and who will be able to help.**

#~#~#

We are the GhostWalkers, we live in the shadows  
The sea, the earth, and the air are our domain  
No fallen comrade will be left behind

~ Extract from The GhostWalker Creed

#~#~#

Lily found herself fidgeting as she gazed on the comatose figure of Hollister, plucking at the hem of her sleeve as she debated what to do.

She knew what she could do, but would he help? Harry and her father had had a pretty major falling out several years back and despite her best efforts, her father refused to get back in contact with him. She didn't even know what the argument was about; though she had a feeling it was something to do with her past.

He had sent letters addressed to her for the first few years, but her father had intercepted them all and Lily had watched with tears in her eyes as he burned them in front of her. Eventually, Harry seemed to realise that something wasn't right, and the letters tapered off to until there was nothing.

Lily had cried for a week straight the year that no birthday card arrived. Her father had seemed sorry, but by the time she had finished there was something broken in their relationship. She still loved him, but he had driven away the one person that she could sit in a room with and not be bombarded with thoughts and feelings. The person that had taken a twelve year old girl and shown her how to block the minds pressing in on her so that she could get some sleep that wasn't bombarded with the evils people had committed. Sure, he had filled her life and home with people who were psychic-nulls, but it wasn't the same, at all.

Harry could help Hollister. If anyone could go into someone's mind and bring them back it would be him.

Unfortunately, Harry was the only person she couldn't find with her talents. The man was a black hole. No, that would imply there was an empty space, it was more like he could shield his mind so that it blended seamlessly with the surrounding objects. Once, when she was thirteen, and was practising finding people with her eyes closed, she had mistaken him for a pebble.

Lily sighed, unknowingly attracting the attention of Ryland, and nodded to the men crowding around Hollister's bed before slipping quietly out the room.

Ryland caught up with her barely seven paces away from the door.

"Hey," he whispered, his hand reaching out, fingers circling her wrist, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

He raised an eyebrow. "That was a pretty big sigh for nothing. Besides, I can feel your turmoil. What is it?"

Lily had the grace to blush, caught out. She opened her mouth and then closed it again when she realised she has no idea what to say. Fingers brushing lightly over her cheekbone startled her into looking into Ryland's steel grey eyes.

"Lily." He said softly.

It was enough. "I know someone who can help." The words were out of her mouth before she realised what she was doing. Ryland's breath caught. She wouldn't say that he was jubilant at the admission but there was a certain spark of hope in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Lily mentally cursed; even more when she realised that the silence from the room she had just left was a lot thicker, a sure giveaway that every man in that room was listening to the conversation.

"Who?"

Lily grimaced. "His name's Harry. Harry Potter."

"And," Ryland asked slowly, "you really think he'll be able to help Jeff?"

Lily shrugged, feeling worse by the second, "He trained me." She admitted, "If there's anyone on this planet who can help, it'll be him. He's even better than me."

The spark of hope bloomed into something more.

"And you're sure he'll help?"

Lily shifted, the fingers curled loosely around her wrist feeling more like a shackle. "Yes." She said reluctantly, "I'm sure he'll even help with the rest of you once he finds out." She shrugged awkwardly, "He's got this saving people thing…"

"That's…that's great!" Ryland smiled brightly and Lily felt it like a blow. It was even worse when the rest of the men piled out of the room behind Ryland.

"You mean that?" Nicolas asked quietly, the rest of the men held their breaths.

Lily nodded. "I was thinking about contacting Dr Adams, but if I'm right about this being a dreamwalker trap…"

"And this Potter, he can handle himself?"

Lily thought back, Harry had always been steady. A rock in her life when everything seemed like it was falling apart. He had handled everything she had thrown at him, her horror at the thoughts she was being tormented by, the grief of the victims, the anger that she was the only one having to experience it, her terror of losing herself.

Yes, Harry could handle it.

"But what about the brain bleed you were talking about?"

Lily looked up to see Ian McGillicuddy staring at her. She shrugged, then belatedly realised that that wasn't going to be good enough as an answer.

"I…" she sighed, "I might be wrong about that…"

Ryland's fingers tightened around her wrist. "What do you mean? Did he, or didn't he bleed into his brain?"

"Without the proper equipment it's all just speculation…"

That had Ryland's grip tightening until it was slightly painful.

"Damn it, Lily! Brain damage isn't something to speculate about!" Ryland grit his teeth and the rest of the men shifted into attacking positions. Lily eyed them warily, uncomfortably aware that they were all trained killers who were just a little mentally unstable and vulnerable to outside influence and control, "Would this Dr Adams be able to help with that?" Ryland continued.

"I know it's not something to speculate about! Do you think me completely heartless, Ryland? Is that it? Yes, Dr Adams would be able to help, but so would Harry." Lily tugged at her wrist, enough so that Ryland loosened his grip with an apologetic look. She huffed in reply, rubbing at the skin.

"Is Harry some kind of brain surgeon then?"

Lily shook her head.

"Then how would he be able to help?" The challenge was obvious.

Biting her lip, Lily debated telling them the reason. On one hand, it would assuage their worries; on the other hand Ryland was probably going to go ballistic. Eventually the assurance won out. She sighed, her shoulders slumping.

"Because he helped me when I started to bleed into my brain."

Their reactions were predictable. Half the men relaxed at the knowledge that the man they were contacting for help was experienced in the situation they found themselves in, the other half didn't relax, but did look relieved. Ryland blew up.

"What?" He snapped, "When did you bleed into your brain?"

Lily couldn't help the small roll of her eyes, "Oh don't worry, it was a long time ago."

Ryland made a frustrated noise, "This isn't something you should just brush off!"

"Ryland," Lily said slowly, "its fine."

"No, it certainly isn't fine! You could have died! There could be long lasting effects! Have you been to see a doctor?"

"Would you just stop that?" Lily asked, beginning to feel annoyed, "It happened when I was thirteen, more than ten years ago, and as my very successful exam scores and career can prove, it hasn't affected me negatively. And yes, my father took me to see a doctor but they couldn't even find any hint that I'd haemorrhaged in the first place, never mind anything else."

It didn't look like Ryland was completely satisfied with the answer but Lily refused to let him get another word in.

"Besides," she continued, "Harry is the sweetest, kindest man I've ever met. He wouldn't have done anything to hurt me."

Ryland scowled at her praise of another man but he was interrupted of saying anything by Kadan this time, "Right, so you trust him, he can help, that's great. Get in contact with him and bring him over here."

"There…may be a small problem with that." Lily grudgingly admitted after a moment of standing under the weight of their expectant gazes.

Gator rolled his eyes, "Of course there's a problem. There always is."

"Hey," Lily protested, "it's not my fault!"

"Lily," Ryland gently coaxed her into looking at him again, "he wasn't blaming you, he just meant that problems always crop up around us. We can get over the problem. What is the problem?"

Lily glanced away and then back to him again, "I…don't actually know how to get in contact with him."

The statement took a moment to sink in, but when it did the reactions were a mix of disbelief and crushed hope.

"You mean," Gator said, "that you know a guy who can not only help with Hollister, but with our training, but you can't get him here because you don't know where he is? How do you know he's even alive?"

"He's alive." Lily snapped at him, ignoring the panic and hurt that curled in her chest at the thought that she might be wrong. She turned back to Ryland to find him pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed. "Ryland?"

He sighed and straightened, "Okay, so this Potter is out of consideration then, how quickly can you get in contact with Dr Adams?"

"He's not out of consideration," Lily said, affronted on behalf of her childhood mentor, "just because I don't know where he is right now doesn't mean that no one does."

"You don't have any letters or anything?" Gator asked after a moment.

Lily shook her head, "He used to send me letters after he left but my father…" she trailed off in embarrassment, uncomfortably aware that the rest of the explanation would paint her father in a bad light, and these men already had enough reason to hate him.

Ryland seemed to realise that she was holding something back; he could probably tell by the way she was feeling as well. "You father?" he asked gently, offering her an out if she wanted to take it.

Lily squared her shoulders; she owed it to Harry to tell the truth. Her father had been in the wrong, and though she didn't want anyone to hate him for the decisions he had made, the truth of it was she couldn't protect him from people's judgement any more than he could protect her from people's thoughts and feelings.

"My father burnt them all in front of me." The memories caused tears to prick at the back of her eyes. Her father had taken something away from her that she couldn't forgive him for, it was their only point of contention, and even though he was dead she still couldn't forgive him. It probably made her a bad person but all she could think of was the years wasted and a friendship ruined.

She could see the men sharing glances with one another and Ryland looked like he wanted to step forward and hold her, to protect her from the bad memories. She wouldn't let him though, it hurt, but she was stronger than this. She lifted her chin, challenging them to say something, about her father, about her.

They didn't, though she could feel Ryland holding himself back.

"That still doesn't solve the problem of how to get in contact with him." Nico pointed out, "And if you're right and your father destroyed all correspondence…"

Lily gasped, a sudden idea making her smile.

"What?" Ryland asked.

"He might not have destroyed everything!" Lily said, turning and hurrying down the corridor to her father's office. She could hear the scramble behind her that indicated the men where following her.

"Lily!" Ryland jogged up until her was striding alongside her, "damn it, Lily, tell me what you're thinking."

"My father," Lily said absentmindedly, her thoughts centred on Harry and the possibility of seeing him again after so many years, "and Harry were pretty close. He might have kept something of his as a memento in his office."

Ryland grabbed her wrist and pulled her to a halt. Lily turned on him in frustration as the men scrambled to a stop so they wouldn't run into them.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Lily, you just said that your father burnt all your letters from him. Why would he keep one in his office?"

Lily tugged her wrist free. "I don't know." She said, "But it's worth a shot, right? Or do you expect me to just shrug it off and say 'Oh, no, well there's only a small possibility that I'll find something so there's no point in even looking?'"

Ryland flushed, "That's not what I meant."

"It sounded like it." She replied as she started walking quickly to her father's office again, "I know it's a long shot, okay." She said quietly, "But at the moment it's the only shot we have and I'm not just going to not look because the odds are against it."

She stopped outside the door, staring at the wood grain for a few seconds. The chance of finding a letter from Harry that her father had kept was unbelievably low if she was going to be honest with herself, but there was still a chance. Her father liked to document things, it was conceivable that he had kept some sort of record of Harry living with them and if she could find that then she might be able to find an address or something for Arly to be able to track.

A hand on her arm had her jumping and she turned to find Ryland and the rest of the men looking at her.

"We'll help."

She smiled, tremulously and punched in the code to open the door. A quick fingerprint scan later and they were into her father's inner sanctum. Lily stepped to the side as the men crowded into the room after her, eager to start the search. She felt a little lost all of a sudden, as if she was missing something and hadn't noticed until just now. Supressing a shiver, she wrapped her arms across her stomach and turned her face away from the way these practical strangers were coldly going through her father's life work. All except Ryland, who stepped close to her and gave her a quick hug.

"Are you okay?" He murmured into her hair.

She pressed her face against his chest, breathing deeply, focused on his emotions, immersing herself in his concern. She took a few selfish moments, basking in his heat, scent and mind before pulling away and straightening.

"Yes. Now, help me find something."

#~#~#

Nothing. There was absolutely nothing. Lily had known it was a long shot, but there had still been the small nagging doubt that her father would completely erase everything to do with a part of his life. And it wasn't even as if Harry had been a small part, he had lived with them for three years, he had saved her life, for crying out loud.

She didn't know the details of their fight but it was starting to look like more than the usual argument blown out of proportion between two stubborn people.

She rubbed her forehead as she flipped through even more papers. They had already covered them all but she was taking a second, sometimes even a third look.

"Lily…"

Ryland sounded tired but she refused to give up, there must be something in these papers that could tell her where Harry was.

"Lily, there's nothing here."

"No." She snapped, throwing the papers back onto the floor, "there is, we just haven't found it yet!"

Ryland stepped into her personal space and this time she had to look at him.

"Lily, we've been going through this room for the past six hours. There's nothing."

"Damn it." She cursed, and melted into his embrace when he circled his arms around her, dragging her to his chest. "I know my father, Ryland. He wouldn't just get rid of something like this. He was a scientist. A scientist. Do you know what that means? It means that we catalogue everything. Just destroying something…" she trailed off shaking her head.

Ryland glanced around the room at his men who had slumped on the floor, their exhaustion finally catching up with them, not to mention the crushing blow of hope ripped away.

"Come on, I think we all need to get something to eat, and then we can decide what to do next."

He kept his arms around her as his men grumbled good naturedly to themselves as they levered themselves to their feet. He waited until they had all filed out past him into the hallway before he let go, giving Lily a concerned glance.

Lily stared at the mess of papers in the office for a few seconds before sighing. "Okay, fine. But I still think we're missing something here."

Ryland nodded, and led her out of the office with his hand placed in the small of her back. "And as soon as we've all eaten and drank something then we can come back and find it." He hesitated, "But Lily…there might not be anything. And if there isn't then we have to plan for what we should do next."

Lily bit her lip but she couldn't deny that it was selfish for her to prolong helping Jeff for the off chance of finding Harry. Yes, he was her first chance, but only for so long. Reality had to assert itself sometime and it was fast approaching that point. Yet, she still couldn't just give up.

"Just one more look."

Ryland smiled softly at her, "Of course."

They walked quietly for a few minutes until they arrived at the kitchen where, surprisingly, Rosa was still up and bustling around, feeding the men and looking completely in her element. Lily spared a little smile at her, but it quickly dropped off her face when she slumped down onto a bar stool.

She was so caught up in trying to figure out where her father would have hidden anything to do with Harry that she didn't notice Rosa talking to her.

"Huh, what was that Rosa, I'm sorry, I was caught up in my thoughts."

Rosa smiled at her as she plucked a glass from the cupboard. "I asked what you were thinking about."

Lily sighed, "I'm trying to figure out where dad would have hidden any correspondence with Harry."

The sound of shattering glass had every eye in the room turning to look at Rosa who had paled and was trembling, the glass littered around her feet.

"Rosa?" Lily asked, standing from her seat, "Is everything okay?"

Rosa brushed off her concern. "Mr Potter?" she asked, and let out a shaky breath when Lily nodded, "Been a long time since I heard his name in this house. No, no," she waved at Gator who had stood up to offer her his seat, "I'm fine, I just wasn't expecting it." She turned back to face Lily, "Why you need to speak to him? Your father refused to let anyone speak of him after…"

Lily tampered down her curiosity, "We need his help, the man upstairs, Jeff Hollister, only Harry can help him. I've, we've, tried searching the office but…"

"You won't find anything there." Rosa said certainly and Lily slumped in defeat.

"So it's pointless after all."

Rosa winced, and fiddled with her fingers. "Is it important?" She asked eventually.

Lily's eyes narrowed, "Yes," she said slowly, "Jeff could die."

Rosa winced again and glanced unseeingly down at the floor before she seemed to make up her mind. "I don't know why I'm doing this, if your father ever found out…" she trailed off, then gave herself a little shake.

"Rosa," Lily said, "do you know where Harry is?"

Rosa looked miserable for a second before the expression passed, "We've kept in contact," she admitted, "I didn't agree with your father, but I didn't want him to know."

Lily felt like she had been punched in the gut, she took a deep breath when black started to rim the edges of her vision. All this time searching and Rosa had had the answer all along. The rest of the men seemed to realise this too as the despondency that had fallen over the group had completely disappeared. Now they were all sitting up straight, completely alert and listening in to the conversation.

"Do you have any way to contact him?" Lily asked, "An address would do."

Rosa nodded, "He gave me his phone number a long time ago, I've never used it and I don't know if it still works but…"

"Rosa," Lily almost strangled herself saying it slowly enough that she could be understood, "could you go get that for me right now?"

Rosa shot a nervous look at the men before nodding and bustling out of the kitchen. There was silence after she left which Lily broke with a slightly hysterical laugh, "All this time…"

The tension didn't break until Rosa returned with a thick parchment envelope. Lily had to restrain herself from snatching it out of her hand. From the looks of it the rest of the men did too. When she did finally have it, she opened it as quickly as she could and scanned the text for the phone number, once done she practically ran to the kitchen phone and dialled the outgoing line before keying in the mobile number.

To her relief it rang. At least he hadn't had his service disconnected. Or at least she hoped it was Harry who would answer.

"Hello?"

Lily sagged against the kitchen counter at the sound of Harry's voice. It had been ten years but she would never forget the smooth calm tenor that had helped her through all the bad times. She was so caught up in her relief that she almost forgot to answer.

"Who is this?"

"Harry." She said, a smile creeping its way across her face. Around her the men nudged one another.

There was a pause and then a shocked, "Lily?"

Her smile widened, "Harry, I'm so glad I could get you!"

"Lily! What? How? What about your father?"

Lily's throat closed up, "Dad is…missing…"

"Oh, Lily. I'm so sorry."

Lily bowed her head at the regret in Harry's voice.

"Lily, not that I'm not ecstatic that you're calling me, but...why are you calling me?"

She cleared her throat, "I, er, need your help."

There was silence on the other end of the line, but she could feel the change in atmosphere, "Lily," Harry said carefully, "are you in trouble?"

"No, well, yes. A little. But it's not for me I'm calling. There's a man," she rushed to explain, feeling like the twelve year old she had once been, "my father was running, um, experiments on some soldiers and one of them had a stroke."

There was an explosive noise on the other end of the line. "Let me guess, he's trapped in his own head?"

"Yeah, but that's not all…"

"Of course it isn't." Harry sounded weary. "It never is with your family." Before she could refute that he continued, "Okay, what else?"

"There's…we think there's someone else in his head, keeping him from regaining consciousness, or at least laying a trap…"

There was another silence and Lily feared that Harry had hung up.

"Harry? Please, I know you don't owe us any favours but-"

"Lily," he cut her off, "Don't worry, I'll help."

Her breath left her in a whoosh. "Oh, oh thank God. Do you want me to send a car to pick you up? How quickly can you get here?"

"Give me half an hour," He replied sounding amused.

Lily had a brief thought as to how he could get here so quickly but gratitude won out and she just chalked it up to Harry being Harry. She could remember when he would just pop up out of nowhere when she was a teen.

"Harry, thanks."

"Don't thank me just yet." He said and hung up.

Lily slowly returned the handset to its cradle and turned to look at the men. "He'll be here in half an hour."

#~#~#

Harry stared at his mobile for a few seconds in disbelief. He was almost tempted to check the calls received to check that that had actually happened. But no, he'd only given one person his number after he realised that Peter was probably messing with his letter.

Thankfully his forethought had paid off. But not in the way he had thought. Instead of an older Lily calling to reconnect, he had an older Lily begging for help.

He glanced around his barren apartment and smiled.

Time to play the hero once again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter! Woo! Huh, okay, this has a few references to past-Harry/Peter. I don’t know where that came from, but it just went that way. To be honest, I don’t even like Peter – I thought he was a bit of a dick character :/

#~#~#

When you try your best, but you don't succeed  
When you get what you want, but not what you need  
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep  
Stuck in reverse

~ _Fix You_ , Coldplay

#~#~#

Packing hadn't taken long. Harry had been living on his own since he had left the Whitney mansion and the flat where he had finally settled down was a reflection of that. There were the basics of course, the bed and stove and shower, but there was nothing that gave the impression of the owners personality; except for the one photo he kept on his window ledge of Peter, Lily and himself, taken when Lily was thirteen.

He picked it up and looked over the three of them fondly. This was taken before anything had come to light. Before, when he had just been a simple instructor in the mind arts to a struggling teenager who was steadily declining into insanity.

His gaze caught on Peter. Dr Peter Whitney, who was, according to Lily, _missing_. Harry wasn't foolish, he'd noticed the pause Lily had taken and deduced there was more to the story. Probably a lot more and Harry would be a fool to get involved in it all again. But then, Harry had always been a fool when it came to the small Whitney family. Or just one in particular.

Then again, maybe it wasn't foolishness, maybe it was just recklessness.

Either way he was certain he was about to be dragged into something that would change him completely.

He sighed and stroked the pad of his thumb across the glass over Peter's face. It was still smiling the rare, carefree smile that Harry had only seen the man wearing once or twice even after his years of living together.

Peter was most likely dead.

Something hard and cold lodged in Harry's chest at the thought and it took him a moment to remember how to breathe, then, taking one last painful look at the photograph, dropped it into the open duffle bag at his feet.

There was the distinct possibility that he wouldn't ever come back to this place, not if Lily got her claws into him again. It had been hard enough leaving the first time, walking away from those confused and tear-filled eyes. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it a second.

He glanced one last time around the place he had called home for the last few years. It looked exactly the same as when he had moved in. His entire existence had been packed away in the large duffle next to him and he hadn't even used any shrinking or expanding charms.

There was something infinitely heart breaking about that.

Though he hadn't taken much with him after the argument. He had just grabbed what he had arrived with three years earlier, scorning the gifts that Peter had bought for him. His only concession the one photograph of them all, happy and smiling.

At the time the thought of staying had made him physically ill and, after he had escaped through the iron gates and apparated away, he had thrown up.

And now he was heading back. He hadn't even thought about staying away when Lily had rung. It had never occurred to him that he didn't have to go back, even though Lily had mentioned it. All he had heard was that Lily didn't think she was in that much trouble, which would probably mean that people were going out of their way to try and kill her.

His breath hitched as his thoughts led him back to Peter.

 _Stupid_ , he tried to tell himself; _Lily only said he was missing. He might not even be dead._

But he knew. Knew with all the certainty he possessed that if he cast a finding spell it would not work.

Peter was gone.

The thought had tears pricking at the backs of his eyes, which was stupid because Harry was the one who left in the first place. But although they had had a falling out, Harry had never wanted him _dead_.

Scowling, he crouched in the empty room and zipped up the bag harder than he needed to.

That was enough thinking about Peter. He couldn't do anything if he _was_ dead, and now his first priority was Lily and whether or not she was safe. Probably not knowing her, but he lived to hope that _something_ would go right.

Slinging the bag across his shoulder he did one last summoning charm to make sure that he hadn't overlooked anything. After a few seconds where nothing zoomed towards him, he slid his wand back into its holster and apparated away.

#~#~#

The Whitney mansion hadn't changed at all in the years Harry had been gone. He felt it like a physical blow to the chest as he looked about at the marble pillars and the gilt framed pictures hanging on the walls.

It was only on his second sweep that he noticed that, yes, there _had_ been changes. There were a lot more security cameras inside the building, instead of just outside.

He was just starting to wonder whether they had spotted him or not when an alarm sounded, loud in the previous silence.

He couldn't help the slight twitch of his lips in amusement. Guess company would be arriving soon. He hoped it was Lily and not a bunch of brawny security types because he didn't think he'd be able to give them excuses without grinning. And if there's one thing he learnt over the past few years is security guards do not like it when you laugh. They usually think you're mocking them and things dissolve fast.

Deciding that an invitation from the lady of the house was a good enough reason to be there without warning, he dropped his bag onto the floor and shoved his hands into his pockets.

Nonchalance, thy name is Harry.

He'd expected security along the lines of one or two large men, what with all the added cameras. What he didn't expect was for those men to be able to hide within a ripple of air. He'd been waiting for a few minutes and was beginning to become wary, which was why he'd started casting revealing charms over everything. He would never have been able to sense the man otherwise. It had been a throwaway spell but the air twenty paces to his right suddenly lit up bright blue in the shape of a large man.

Harry had stared, startled for a moment, and quickly cast a few more charms. The entry hall was empty apart from them and the man was slowly stalking closer. He felt a brief pang of anger and hopelessness and the thought 'Peter, what have you done?' crossed his mind, but he schooled his face into an unreadable mask.

The spell wasn't clear enough to give any distinct features, so Harry couldn't tell what he looked like or what he was wearing, or even if he was carrying a gun. Which was more than likely.

He scrutinised the figure more closely and was privately amused to see him falter a moment. Of course, the man wouldn't expect Harry to see him as he was using him powers in a way that completely cloaked him from sight.

Really, it was quite ingenious, almost as good as Harry's invisibility cloak. The cloak had the advantage of never running out of energy, and Harry was sure that once the man started flagging, his powers or control would start to wane and he would be left visible to all.

The invisible man took another careful step forward, eventually having decided that Harry wasn't looking at him, but at something _behind_ him. This assumption caused Harry to smile at the outline of the figure's head.

"You know," he said, "I _can_ see you."

Not perfectly true but Harry had learnt never to let an enemy know a weakness. And as this man was currently invisible and stalking him and may or may not be carrying weapons, he was certainly _not_ a friend. Yet.

The man paused again, briefly hesitating, and then Harry saw him reach for something at his hip. Without even thinking about it he cast a wandless and silent _expelliarmus_. A hand gun of some sort came sailing through the air accompanied by a soft noise of startlement, so quiet he wouldn't have heard it if he hadn't been listening for it.

Harry made no move to catch the gun and it landed on the floor between them and skittered closer to him, coming to rest against his shoe. He looked down at it in feigned disinterest whilst inwardly calculating the odds of the invisible man having more weapons on him. They were pretty high and he twitched his wrist so his wand shot into his hand, still hidden within his pocket. It was uncomfortable as he was unable to grip the handle but he had practised enough that he only need be touching it for it to work.

And as easy as it had become to cast some spells wandlessly, it was uncommonly easier to cast them touching his wand. And if he was correct, and the man was still armed, he would need every advantage he had. A shielding spell could stop a bullet, but only if that spell was up before the bullet had been fired.

Silently he cast multiple layers of protection spells. Then, just for good measure, cast more revealing spells. Fortunately they were still alone, but the man had frozen in place, most likely from the shock of being disarmed so suddenly.

It was a little curious though. The man was obviously trained, whether as a soldier or something else remained to be seen, and yet he hadn't made any move to drawing another weapon or attacking Harry since he'd been disarmed.

Harry could only assume it meant that he had orders not to kill him. Going for his gun could have been an automatic response, especially if it was a soldier hiding within the ripple. Such men always felt more at home when they were armed. Like an explosive security blanket.

Or it could be that he was weighing his options.

Choosing the more optimist conclusion, Harry slouched and grinned.

"We could just stand here all day, but you have orders. And as I've been invited by the lady of the house I think it would be rude if you gunned me down in the middle of her hallway."

The man was still hesitating when a commotion down the hallway drew Harry's attention. He barely had time to wonder what was going on when Lily flew into the hall. He just about managed to disarm his shields and get his hands out his pockets in time for her to fling herself into his arms.

"Harry!"

He automatically cast another shield spell, enclosing them in a bubble of protectiveness. He had not forgotten the fact that she was in trouble and possibly the target of hit men at this very moment.

Besides, the man still hadn't dropped his little invisibility get-up. It was one thing for him to be in danger, and another thing entirely to put Lily in danger.

After that he turned his attention back to the woman in his arms.

She was taller than he remembered. A lot taller as they were now the same height. This, really, was unsurprising as he hadn't seen her in over a decade. Grinning, he wrapped his arms around her and dragged her closer. This definitely wasn't the fourteen year old he had left, this was a woman. A woman who had come into her own. And yet he still felt like he was holding his daughter.

Loss hit him in the chest. And, not for the first time, he regretted leaving. He had missed this. Missed seeing her grow into the adult she had become. What else had he missed? What else should he have been there for and hadn't?

How many times should she have been comforted and missed out?

"Lily." He murmured, pressing their cheeks together and closing his eyes, enjoying the closeness of his family again. "Lily."

He felt rather than heard the dry hitch of her breathing as she clung tightly to him, arms crushing them together. As if she thought the tighter she held on to him now, the more absence she could erase from the past.

Harry sighed and carded his fingers through her hair, pressing her face into his shoulder when he felt her being to tremble.

"It's okay, I'm here now," he soothed. Forcibly reminded of when he had first started her training, "I'm here now."

"Lily!"

The barked command hidden in her name had Harry's eyes shooting open to find both Lily and himself surrounded by a group of men.

"Lily," Harry said slowly when she hadn't moved and the man who had spoken looked increasingly angry, "please tell me they're on your side."

He felt Lily sigh against his skin and pull back, surreptitiously wiping her hand over her eyes. Harry looked at her fondly, his hands on her hips. This seemed to be making the leader guy even antsier.

He wanted to smirk, he really did. Maybe later though as he had more important things to do and worry about other than a man who was apparently after his girl.

But now that he thought about it…

Lily distracted him from that train of thought by shifting from out the circle of his arms and turning to face the group of men, who still hadn't moved from their positions. Though they were looking a lot less likely to shoot him in the head without provocation. Or maybe that was just because they were worried they would hit Lily instead.

"Who's this?" The man who had spoken Lily's name before gestured at Harry. Rather rudely, Harry thought.

"Lily? Are they on your side? Are they going to attack?" Harry asked, ignoring the man.

Lily turned her head to look at him again and out of the corner of his eye Harry spied a tick appearing in the man's cheek. It increased when Lily smiled at him.

"Yeah, these are the men that…from my dad's experiment." She finished lamely and Harry's smile dropped a few notches as he looked at them again.

Yes, now that he was paying attention, there was definitely something _other_ about them. And that wasn't just because the invisible man chose that moment to shimmer into existence. He ran a light touch of legilimency over them all and repressed a shudder. Completely open, completely undefended. Whatever Peter had done had stripped them of whatever natural barriers they'd had. Even those they'd had just by being _human_.

Honestly, Harry didn't know how they were still sane. But then, his little Lily had been like that when he'd first been introduced to her and she'd been surviving like that for years. But then, she had been a lot younger and her mind had adapted as it had grown; not noticing or just compensating for the disability.

These men didn't have that. Their minds had been fully developed when Peter had stripped them and he didn't want to think how they had coped. He hoped to whatever was out there that Lily had started them on the mental practises he had taught her. He didn't know how long these men could last without them.

"Lily," Harry said quietly, "can they be trusted?"

She hesitated only a brief moment. "Yes."

Harry nodded and dropped the barrier between them; though he was standing at a moment's notice to slam it back up again if any of them looked like they were going to get handsy with their guns.

As soon as he did, the men took a step forward, and then looked startled when they realised that something had been holding them back without them even noticing. Harry swallowed a grin at their expressions. Some of them looked amazed; some looked like they were debating asking how he'd managed to do that. But the guy who'd previously called out Lily's name just looked pissed. He chalked that up to a win.

Seems like _someone_ was attracted to his little girl.

Harry knew he was going to have fun with this. And after he'd pissed off the soldier with the gun fetish, he'd scare him within an inch of his life.

He had talent like that. Also magic, which helped a lot. Unfair advantage it was, but he wasn't so noble as to not use it. It was going to be so much fun.

However, before those that wanted to ask what he'd done could ask, he took a step away from Lily, clapped and rubbed his hands together. "Right!" He grinned, "Whose head am I invading then?"

Lily sighed.

#~#~#

Ryland was angry.

When Lily had first told them of her mentor, he'd been reluctant to hope. But hope had come, and crushed ruthlessly, then revived again. In the end he'd been tentatively happy. Wary, of course, but looking forward to meeting the man who had trained the woman he was falling for.

He'd wanted to know what he could do to help his team. His men. His brothers.

He'd also assumed, by the way Lily talked about this _Harry_ and her father, that they were the same age.

This was why he was unprepared for the attractive man, only several years older than Lily and the same age as himself, to be standing in the middle of the hall. His smug attitude grated on Ryland's nerves. And the man's uncanny ability to spot Nico, even when he was ghosting…

It was beyond anything he'd ever heard of, never mind seen.

And the way that Lily had _thrown_ herself into his arms…. And the way Harry had held her – cradling her like she was the most precious thing in his world…

Just what sort of relationship did they have?

Ryland gritted his teeth and scowled at nothing, ignoring the questioning glances his men sent him.

Harry was supposed to be an old man. A fusty professor or a scientist that had helped Lily's father do questionably legal human experiments. He _wasn't_ supposed to be young, fit or attractive. And he wasn't supposed to fit with Lily in a way that he didn't think he ever could.

He could practically hear the thoughts running through the minds of his men. They mirrored the chained part of his own mind. Harry and Lily looked good together. Really good. Almost _fashion magazine_ good. And he could never compare to that.

It didn't help that he could feel Lily's love for the man echoing in his own head. He couldn't decode it completely, but it went beyond mere friendship and he could definitely feel attraction from her. From him he could feel absolutely nothing.

And how did he get into the mansion without tripping off any alarms until he was inside?

Ryland really wanted to just throw Harry out, but he couldn't. He didn't have any excuse to give Lily or his men if he did. And the way Harry'd completely bypassed their security with ease…

It was better to have this man on their side until they could learn all they could. Learn his strengths and weaknesses. Harry was a security risk. Better that _one_ of them stay on their guard around him.

A pressure he hadn't even noticed fell and he took a step forward without meaning to.

What…?

His men had also taken a step and seemed surprised when the realised that they'd been held back without them noticing.

Ryland realised that Harry had somehow kept them all at bay without them sensing traps or wards. His anger increased. It rattled him to have someone so casually powerful around him, his men, Lily. Especially Lily. She was his. And Jeff was completely comatose upstairs and wouldn't be able to protect himself.

For that matter Ryland wasn't sure if he could protect himself against this newcomer.

"Right, whose head am I invading then?"

Ryland glared at Harry as Lily sighed beside him. He could feel his men glance to him, waiting for him to answer. He didn't.

When it became obvious that he wasn't going to, Lily sighed again and rubbed her forehead.

"Jeff Hollister." She said as Harry reached down to grab his bag, swinging it over his shoulder. "He's upstairs."

Harry nodded at her with a smile and linked their fingers together. Ryland felt jealousy cause his gut to clench painfully.

Lily shot him an annoyed look and he realised that he was broadcasting loudly. Even his men were glancing at him askance. He focused on tamping down his reactions. As soon as he could he'd get Lily by herself and demand she tell him about the relationship between herself and Harry.

"Lead on, my Lady." Harry said, allowing Lily to tug him past the men in the hallway. As he passed Ryland, he smiled at him. A slow curve of his lips that said _I have what you want_.

Ryland had never wanted to shoot someone so much in his life.

#~#~#

Harry snickered silently as Lily dragged him upstairs. His feet automatically finding the steps without him having to open his eyes.

"Was that really necessary?" Lily asked him when they were alone. The men waiting until Ryland had calmed down to regroup.

"Come on, Lily-flower," Harry grinned, "it was funny."

She tightened her grip on his fingers in annoyance. "You were showing off."

Harry bumped shoulders with her. "The wards were a _precaution_. I didn't know if you'd bumped up security and if I was going to get jumped by a bunch of men with guns. Which, in case you didn't realise, is _exactly_ what happened."

She huffed but the corners of her mouth twitched up in amusement. "Well, if you'd used the front door…"

"But where's the fun in that?"

She was quiet for the length of a corridor then acquiesced. "One of these days I'm going to get you to tell me how you do that."

Harry smiled indulgently beside her. "One of these days."

Another corridor passed in silence. Harry counted more hidden cameras placed strategically so that they covered every window. They jarred with his memories and he mourned that Lily had had to resort to this to protect herself.

What had Peter been _doing_ that he couldn't even trust the safety of his own home?

"I have a headache now."

Harry frowned as Lily interrupted his musings. "From overuse?"

"No," she replied. Then said carefully, "I…seem to have a strong link with Ryland. You made him pretty angry."

Harry smirked. "Pretty boy was easy to rile up."

" _Ryland_ ," Lily stressed, "is the leader of a unit of soldiers with very big guns. Do you remember the guns?"

They came to a stop outside a closed door but made no move to open in. Harry rolled his eyes. "Pretty boy should learn to control his anger if he wants to sex up my little Lily-flower."

Lily spluttered.

Harry smirked and brushed his fingers across her forehead, sending a tendril of magic into her mind, banishing her headache. She glared at him.

"Now, now." He said, "What look of thanks is that?"

"It's not."

He laughed and pushed open the door. "Come on; let's see what you've got here. Also, I wonder how long it'll be before the rest of them realise that we're alone together with their injured colleague. A tenner on them getting stuck in the door."

Lily rolled her eyes as she followed him. "No bet."

Harry hummed in agreement and dropped his bag at the side of the bed. He surveyed the man lying tucked up in front of him. He didn't need to use legilimency to know that something was terribly wrong with him.

"All right then."

He gripped Jeff's wrist to measure his pulse. Lily was silent behind him. He hummed again and sat on the edge of the bed, moving Jeff's arm across his chest so Harry'd have enough room at his shoulder.

Placing his fingertips at certain points on Jeff's head – and feeling like a Vulcan whilst doing it – Harry closed his eyes and concentrated. Sending out his magic in small controllable bursts to try and find the origin of the stroke.

He was also trying desperately not to remember the last time he had performed this particular task. Lily, lying sprawled on the floor, her eyes open and glassy reminding him of those that had fallen on the battlefields of his old life. Peter panicking beside him. He, desperately reaching for her, trying anything to fix it.

It had been the first time Harry had seen Peter not being one hundred per cent in control. And the way Peter had clutched Lily to him when it was all over. The way Peter had looked at _him…_

Harry's breath hitched and he pushed away his memories.

This was not the time. He was in a very delicate situation. One distraction, one lapse in concentration could lead to a large wave of magic which could then lead to a total wipe of the synapsis. Brain dead didn't even _begin_ to describe it.

The door to the room burst open and slammed into the wall. Harry jumped and almost lost control.

"Lily!"

That stupid, ignorant, son of a –

" _Shut up._ " Harry hissed, his heart pounding, eyes still closed. Fuck, if he hadn't've been expecting something moronic like this from pretty boy then Hollister would be dead. By his hand.

Harry did not like to be the one to kill people. Accidentally or not.

"You don't talk-" Ryland started again but was muffled. Probably by Lily.

He breathed deep, finding his centre once again and trying to ignore the muffled protests of a stupid soldier.

Ah.

His magic vibrated as it ran up against a clot. It vibrated again when it found a tear in the lining between skull and brain. Two things. The tear came first. Harry concentrated on the strand of magic linked to the wound, controlling it to repair the injury and then banish the blood and fluid that had gathered and had been putting pressure on the brain.

He checked and rechecked but it seemed to be good as new. Good. Time for the clot then. This was a little trickier. He needed to banish it, but he needed to do so precisely. If he was off by a fraction of a millimetre then he'd banish grey matter as well and that just wouldn't turn out well.

"Absolute silence." He warned, barely aware of his surroundings, before sinking back into his magic.

Reconnecting with the strand of magic was the easy part. He didn't know how long it took until he was happy with the calculations, but when he performed the tiny vanishing spell, only the clot disappeared.

Unfortunately the tissue around the clot had died. There was nothing Harry could do about that. He had been called too late, unlike the situation with Lily where she'd collapsed right in front of him.

Doing one last careful sweep of Hollister's head revealed no hidden surprises.

He brought himself back out slowly. He was only slightly surprised to find himself exhausted. That he was tired; no. It was the level of tiredness that had him blinking. Glazing down at Hollister's peaceful face, he removed his fingers, wincing as they immediately began to cramp up on him.

He rolled his shoulders and turned in place to face the rest of the room's occupants.

They were staring at him, impatient for news. Harry was mildly amused to see Ryland standing in the corner, sulking.

Before he was inundated with questions he pre-empted them. "He had a clot and a bleed. I fixed both but…" he trailed off and shrugged, "it was too long for me to save all the tissue. There was some minor…" he frowned, not knowing how to put it.

"Is Jeff going to be okay?" One of the men asked. Harry didn't know his name.

"He should be. I'm guessing the only reason he isn't waking up right now is because he's still trapped in his own mind. Not because of the injuries."

"Is there going to be any lasting consequences?"

Harry turned to face Ryland. One thing pretty boy had going for him was that he cared about his men. Harry sighed.

"Yes. Some of the brain tissue was starved too long and died. We won't know how much Hollister has been affected until he wakes up…though I'd venture to say there'll probably be some slurring of speech. Maybe even loss of feeling in the left side of his body."

Ryland looked stricken and even Harry felt bad. He knew exactly what it felt like to see people injured for him.

He turned back to glance at Jeff, looking for all the world like he was sleeping peacefully.

The only difference was that Jeff was still alive. Everyone Harry knew was dead and gone.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm in the middle of exam month and I have a million and one other things to do (including other fics to finish) so I don't have a specific date for when this will be updated. The good news is that it's all planned out so it will, eventually, get finished!


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